PRE-GAME RANT

Tonight is the first game of the Battle of Alberta for 2013. Not sure how much battle we’ll see tonight, as much of the last bunch of BoAs have had more fizzle than anything. Credit to Darren Haynes for this stunning tweet: “Taylor Hall is 21 yrs old. Since he’s been alive, #Flames and #Oilers have made #NHL playoffs in same season just once – 2005-06.” Yikes. No wonder the BoA has been so flaccid.

Oh well, here’s a look back in the time machine to one of the best moments in recent BoA history:

PRE-GAME RANT

OK, so we finally lived up to our end of the Battle of Alberta for the last match up with Calgary, and Calgary no-showed. Leaves me curious as to which team will no-show tonight… or will we finally have a real Battle of Alberta?

Teemu Hartikainen will draw in tongiht, taking Linus Omark out of the lineup. Ben Eager skated today, but he isn’t ready to go yet… maybe Sunday he will play.

Doobie gets the start, after a shutout in his last game. According to Oilers Nation, “Flames people” (I presume that means media and/or fans) are predicting a start by Leland Irving in net for the Flames. That probably doesn’t bode well for us, as I always have thought that we stink it up against the “back ups”. But hey, who knows.

PRE-GAME RANT

I hesitantly call this a Battle of Alberta. The Flames have been kicking our asses for quite a while now. It would be nice to finally win one. I’m not really confident that happens tonight, but who knows.

Hemsky and Paajarvi seem to be forming some chemistry together. That might be what finally pulls each of them out of their respective funks. So if anything, I can hope for some good individual efforts tonight. Sorry for the somber pre-game rant. It’s getting difficult to watch these two teams play each other. I’ll still watch though, as I do every game, but my expectations are low.

PRE-GAME RANT

These things used to be called the Battle of Alberta… now they are a Battle of Ability for Oilers Fans to Sustain Watching. Calgary has won all 3 this year, and 15 of the last 16 matchups between the two teams. Forget Minnesota and Backstrom.. these guys are our true rivals, and they’ve delivered a beating on us for a while! Time for the Oilers to show some f—ing heart and beat these bastards. It’ll be tough going tonight though as, per usual, we’re playing with a pretty damaged line up. But I’d like to see some spirit in this one. Where are the fights and such of older BoAs??? The Oilers got off to a great start in that 2nd game of the series, but couldn’t hold on. They’re going to need to be fired up and keep the foot on the gas.

No word on lineups just yet. I wonder if Taylor Hall will return. I personally think him sitting out for a bit to let those stitches mend some more wouldn’t be a BAD idea. We’ve got nothing to win at this point, except for pride. However, word is he’s on the 1st PP unit in practice, so there is a good bet he is in. As long as he’s healed up enough to not risk anymore damage. I’m sure he’ll be fine though (…say the Oilers medical staff).Continue reading 'Oilers 2, Flames 6 – Game 47 – 2012-01-21 @ 8:00 PM MST – CBC'»

PRE-GAME RANT

The Oilers have had their struggles, as of recent, with winning a number of games in a row, and winning the big games. The Flames have always been a thorn in our sides, and there really HASN’T been a Battle of Alberta in years. It’s been more of a free bingo spot on the card for the Calgary Flames vs. us, as this team rolls over. Tonight, I’d like to see the Oilers finally show their fans what they’re made of and no longer use the “tired” excuse and just go out and win one against the one team that we’ve always wanted them to dominate.

The rumor out there (still unconfirmed) is that Andy Sutton is getting 10 games. Yikes. I hope not. But that will give the Oilers some opportunity to see whether they have depth at the defense position too, or not. Corey Potter also should be back soon enough, but I’d like to see them give Kirill Tulupov a shot. That likely won’t happen, although at least it appears that he’s saying the right things right now, which could give him a little favor with those partly in charge of this part of his career.

No concrete word on line ups just yet, but I’d imagine that Devan Dubnyk will get the start, since Nikolai Khabibulin played last night (and played quite well, I might add). Both Ben Eager and Darcy Hordichuk are in, and word is they will be on different lines. Not sure who they will remove (my money is on Paajarvi). The rest of the line up should remain the same, since these guys had quite a good game.

Let’s hope for more of this complete game stuff from the Oilers again tonight.

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